Blogdorf Goodman is a mishmash of beauty product reviews, musings on fashion and swooning over fragrances.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

She's a hurricane in all kinds of weather

S by ShakiraFragrance Review by Cavewoman

Lately I have been feeling a bit sorry for my postman. He's had to lug my September fashion magazines down the street and up the driveway, to my front door where the mail slot is located. Some of them are so large that he can't fold them and put them in the slot,so he just rings the doorbell and leaves them on the front step. With his load lightened a few pounds, off he goes to the neighbor's house,and I run to the front door to gather my goodies.I have to say that the September issues have not wow'd me much. Most of them have the same advertising pages that span nearly two-thirds of the way through the front of the magazines. The first thing I do is to flip through them to discover any scent strips that might be tucked inside.Surprisingly, there are not so many this month. But one of them captivated me not just with the beautiful photograph, but with the scent itself.It's not often that I peel away the entire fold of the scent strip and rub it on my wrists, most of the time I just take a little sniff, and think to myself, yeah, ok, another generic fruity floral, nothing exciting or unusual. But this one, it was different, special, surprising, and lovely.

I'm trying to remember when the disdain for "celebrity scents" started to appear in blogs and internet perfume chat clubs. I belonged to one of those groups for many years. I remember people snickering about offerings from Paris Hilton (whose Can-Can fragrance I really like) to Jessica Simpson (whose fragrances are quite nice and wearable, and in such pretty bottles, too.) Every time a new celebrity scent was launched, I'd see the comments and wonder why anyone would dismiss a fragrance simply because of its name or the name behind it. Is a fragrance less worthy of consideration if it's found at the drugstore and has a pop-singer name on it? Are fragrances at fine department store and boutique counters more beautiful because they're more costly, carrying a chic brand name and all the cachet that goes with it?

Maybe the very first important celebrity scent would be White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor. I can imagine some Blogdorf readers saying "ewwww" as I am writing this! But wait! Created for Ms. Taylor by the venerable perfumer Sophia Grojsman, White Diamonds is a complex and womanly fragrance that deserves attention and accolades. Grojsman has created some of the most beautiful fragrances in perfume history, and it makes me wonder if people would give White Diamonds a try if it weren't a celebrity scent. I've worn it since its launch. My Mom wears it too, and no other fragrance she wears is as perfect on her as White Diamonds is.

This is not to say that there are some real celebrity scent duds out there. And my own personal feelings come into play when I see a bottle of "Unforgivable Woman" - what in the world does this even mean! I don't even want to sample it! (But I did.) I admit I am as curious as a cat about a fragrance called "Cat Deluxe With Kisses" by Naomi Campbell! (Immediately I am remembering her famous fall on the catwalk. I've used the word "cat" three times in the last two sentences.)

It's almost like my closet. There's a fabulous Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress that makes me feel like a million bucks whenever I wear it. Next to it hangs a $7 black knit dress that I found on a markdown rack at Target. I feel like a million bucks when I wear that dress, too. Costume jewelry from Forever21 sits next to hand carved Italian cameo earrings in my jewelry box. On my perfume tray, rare Guerlains and treasured Bond No. 9 fragrances stand in equal presence with Coty Vanilla Fields and Avon's Timeless. I'm equal-opportunity in all categories. But I digress.

My scent strip moment in my September magazine (I don't even remember which one right now) was S by Shakira. Can I say that I hardly knew a thing about Shakira until my Zumba teacher had us dancing to "Hips Don't Lie" and recently taught us a fun dance to Shakira's "Waka Waka - This Time For Africa." I saw the photo of Shakira in the ad, I don't think I even knew what she looked like. She's stunning. I peeled back the scent strip fold and found the stunning treasure it held. And it made perfect sense that this scent would be Shakira's scent. S by Shakira is sold at national chain drugstores, so on my way to Zumba practice, I purchased a one ounce bottle (and sprayed myself nicely with the tester!) for $27.

Exotic, sensuous, serious, and sexy, S by Shakira contains none of the girly-fruity attitude of many modern perfumes. With no citrusy-fruity top notes to bore or annoy, S gets right down to business with an opening of resinous woods and soft, feminine jasmine. Don't think of the nose-pinching jasmine that you don't like. The floral notes here are comfortable, harmonious, and well-balanced. There is depth, substance, and drama here. The sandalwood base note blends easily with some warming amber notes, and vanilla adds the perfect touch of gourmand.Mysterious, a little bit dark, and very exciting, S by Shakira is the dress-up-and-go-out-dancing-all-night type of scent that holds nothing back and makes no apologies for being totally devastating and womanly. It is a tango in a red dress slit up to there, controlled and stylized, full of confidence and attitude. Wearing it makes me want to dance.

To me, a true lover of fragrance would want to try out anything and everything. Some may please, others won't. Price, name, bottle design, advertising style, in the end those things matter way less than what's actually in the bottle and how it makes us feel when it is on the skin. I'm delighted that I discovered S by Shakira in that big fat September issue of whatever magazine it was. Thanks to my postman, who dropped the heavy magazine at my doorstep, he will probably never know his part in my new fragrance love.

Disclosure: This fragrance was purchased by the reviewer.Credits: Harry Belafonte(Jump in the Line) and Cavewoman

16 Inspired Comments:

I love this blog post! I myself spent way too many years thinking that makeup or fragrance was not worth considering if it was not sold in a department store or a specialty shop. Shame on me. Since opening my mind I have found many drugstore offerings that I love. Thank you for the review of S, I think I might check it out.

Thank you all so much! I haven't found anything new lately to review, but I had to share this lovely scent with all blogdorf readers. I'm already thinking that I need to back up my little one-ounce bottle! For all of you who are intrigued by S, please let us know if you try it and what you think!

I can't wait to sample this one now! I'm glad you don't have the hatred for celeb scents that I see all over the web. There are many that won't bother to sniff any fragrance that isn't a certain "quality" of niche.

Me? I like to try everything. Some celeb scents are wonderful (Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely Liquid Satin!). I'll definitely try this one when I come across it in the store. Thanks for the review!

I consider myself a fragrance person but not a fragrance snob. I try them all, including celeb scents. I find many too "young" but I admit that I liked all of the J.Lo/Jennifer Lopez ones. (Oh, and I like the Kim Kardashian one too...)I think the disgust started when the disgust for celebs and reality TV started. I think many of us miss the days of old when you had to be a celeb to be a celeb :) The Paris Hilton's came, taking over magazine covers, TV, bits in horror films, and even our fragrances. And I think it is difficult for a person to buy a fragrance "created" by someone they dislike such as Usher :) Celeb fragrances aren't new (eaus started with royalty) but today's celebs are "new" to us, creating their own fame, so there's the disdain and nose pinching.Anyways...this Shakira fragrance sounds worth trying. I need a "shake my rump" kind of fragrance :)

My go to scent, if I'm at my lowest and need to feel at my best, is still, after 25 years, Lady Stetson. Yes I got it at K Mart. Yes I can afford something at the department store (and in fact have many department store fragrances). But when it comes down to it, if a gorgeous guy tells me I smell good...I don't care WHERE it came from.

I don't think Paris Hilton had much to do with creating her fragrances other than putting her name on them, but there really isn't a bad one in the bunch. I kind of hate the thought of the money going into her pocket which is why I think a lot of people boycott them - but if it's something that turns out to be great on you, suck it up and buy the thing.